Each week, the Lacrosse Magazine staff picks and
previews of the weekend's best, from all levels of the college
landscape. Use #Ten2Watch to discuss the games to come, and
tweet @LacrosseMag to make your own picks. Also
make sure to vote in our LaxMagazine.com Fan Vote Game of the
Week.

Another high-octane ACC matchup headlines this week's
selections, with Boston College, which has given Syracuse and North
Carolina fits, looking to spring an upset over undefeated Maryland
in College Park. We also welcome Megan Schneider, Lacrosse
Magazine's new staff writer, to the fold. She'll have to work her
way to the top, though, inheriting Jac Coyne's last-place 24-26
mark from the first five weeks.

Last
Week

9-1

8-2

7-3

8-2

8-2

6-4

7-3

9-1

8-2

5-5

5-5

0-0

Overall

34-16

32-18

31-19

31-19

31-19

29-21

29-21

27-23

25-25

26-24

24-26

24-26

M:UNC@JHU

UNC

JHU

JHU

UNC

JHU

UNC

JHU

JHU

UNC

UNC

UNC

JHU

W:
BC@MD

MD

MD

MD

BC

MD

MD

MD

MD

MD

MD

MD

MD

M:TOW@HOF

TOW

HOF

HOF

HOF

TOW

TOW

HOF

HOF

TOW

HOF

TOW

HOF

W:
UNC@NW

UNC

UNC

NW

UNC

NW

UNC

UNC

UNC

UNC

NW

UNC

UNC

M:
PEN@YAL

YAL

YAL

YAL

YAL

PEN

YAL

PEN

YAL

YAL

PEN

PEN

YAL

W:
PSU@FLA

PSU

FLA

PSU

FLA

FLA

FLA

FLA

FLA

FLA

FLA

FLA

FLA

M:
UVA@MD

MD

MD

MD

MD

MD

MD

MD

MD

MD

UVA

UVA

MD

W:
LOU@GT

GT

GT

GT

LOU

GT

GT

GT

LOU

LOU

GTN

LOU

LOU

MD3:ITH@CAB

CAB

CAB

CAB

CAB

CAB

CAB

CAB

CAB

CAB

CAB

CAB

CAB

WD3:MID@AM

MID

MID

MID

MID

MID

MID

MID

MID

MID

MID

MID

MID

MD1: No. 4 North Carolina (7-2) at No. 10 Johns Hopkins
(5-2)

Who will win Saturday's Maryland-Boston College game?

Maryland plays host this weekend
to a Boston College team that played defending champion North
Carolina tough at home last week. How will this next ACC test pan
out for the unbeaten Terrapins? (John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com)

Saturday, 2 p.m.

How much will we see of Tar Heels faceoff man R.G. Keenan? He
went 0-for-6 in limited action last week since returning from a leg
injury, but now he figures even more prominently with freshman faceoff guy Stephen Kelly out
indefinitely after having wrist surgery on Monday. Keenan and
Frankie Kelly, Stephen's older brother, will assume the role of
facing off against Johns Hopkins' Drew Kennedy, who has won 67.7
percent of his draw this year. Stephen Kelly had been UNC's best
option, winning 71.2 percent of 121 faceoffs this year. That's
certainly one matchup to watch as the Tar Heels, winners last week
against then-No. 1 Maryland, head to Homewood Field.

WD1: No. 4 Boston College (7-2) at No. 2 Maryland (11-0)

Saturday, 12 p.m.

After falling to undefeated No. 1 North Carolina last week by
just one goal, scored in the final 30 seconds of the game, Boston
College has another tough ACC matchup against No. 2 Maryland, which
also has a perfect record. The Eagles are undefeated on the road
and hoping to break the Terps’ 11-game winning streak.
Expected to dominate on draw controls, Maryland currently is ranked
fifth in the NCAA in points for the season, led by junior Kelly
McPartland’s 36 goals and 18 assists. The Terps defense --
led by freshman Nadine Hadnagy, who recorded a team-high three
caused turnovers in a 19-8 win over Towson on Wednesday -- has held
all of their opponents 10 goals or fewer. Hoping to improve its 1-2
conference record, Boston College’s offense is led by juniors
Covie Stanwick (21g, 19a) and Mikaela Rix (28g, 9a).

MD1: No. 19 Towson (7-2) at Hofstra (5-3)

Saturday, 7 p.m.

A good old fashioned CAA battle under the lights on Hempstead
Turnpike. The winner will remain unbeaten in conference play and
likely keep a spot in the top 20. The loser will be handed its
first league loss. It's Towson's first big test since being blown
out by Johns Hopkins and Loyola in February. They've won six
straight since. The Pride are currently on top of the CAA standings
and want to stay there. Sophomore Sam Llinares leads Hofstra in
scoring with 12 goals and 15 assists. It will be a homecoming from
Long Island-native Tom DeNapoli, who leads Towson with 14 goals and
13 assists. Two years ago at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium, Towson
scored seven unanswered goals in the fourth quarter and overtime to
win 10-9 in an epic comeback. DeNapoli had three goals and three
assists, including a score with two seconds left in the fourth
quarter to force OT. The Tigers also won the matchup, 7-6, this
week last year.

WD1: No. 1 North Carolina (11-0) at No. 11 Northwestern
(5-3)

Sunday, 1 p.m.

With the No. 1 scoring offense in the NCAA as the defending
national champion, North Carolina is poised to remain at the top of
the charts with its 11-0 record. Jenny Levy's dynamic
senior-sophomore attacking duo of Abbey Friend and Aly Messinger
will challenge Wildcats junior goalie Bridget Bianco, as they are
all on the Tewaaraton Watch List. As a team, the Tar Heels are
third in draw controls per game in the NCAA, but Northwestern's
Alyssa Leonard averages about eight draw controls per game, ranking
second in Division I women's lacrosse. Although they lost to No. 3
Syracuse last weekend, the Wildcats rebounded against previously
undefeated No. 6 UMass with top scorer Kaleigh Craig netting a hat
trick. After North Carolina broke Northwestern's eight-year streak
of championship game appearances last year, the Wildcats are eager
to hand the Tar Heels their first loss of the season.

MD1: No. 13 Penn (3-3) at No. 11 Yale (4-2)

Saturday, 1 p.m.

It's yet another conference tilt that will help figure out the
Ivy League pecking order. Penn is searching for its first league
win. The Quakers have lost to Princeton 15-12 and Cornell 17-9.
Yale has lost to Cornell 11-9 and beaten Princeton 16-15 in a
back-and-forth thriller on Saturday. Penn doesn't mind getting out
in transition and utilizing a deep bench. With Yale coming off a
16-goal game, are fireworks in store in New Haven?

WD1: No. 13 Penn State (6-3) at No. 5 Florida (11-2)

Saturday, 12 p.m.

Although both teams are 2-0 in ALC games, Florida's lone losses
are against No. 1 North Carolina and No. 3 Syracuse. The Gators are
second in the NCAA in points behind North Carolina, with reigning
ALC Offensive Player of the Week Shannon Gilroy commanding the
offense -- and the NCAA -- with 73 points. Gilroy, also a key
factor on draw controls, set a school record Wednesday against
Stetson with her 150th career goal. Penn State will look to extend
its five-game winning streak with a balanced attack. Maggie
McCormick leads the Nittany Lions in points (29), followed close
behind by the Cyr sisters, top goal scorer Madison Cyr with 28 and
Mackenzie Cyr with 25.

MD1: No. 8 Virginia (8-2) at No. 5 Maryland (7-1)

Sunday, 3:30 p.m.

The top-ranked Terps are coming off their first loss of the
season and will be hungry to down border rival Virginia. There will
be matchups to watch galore with James Pannell and Mark Cockerton
facing a Maryland defense that includes long-stick midfielder Mike
Ehrhardt and close man Goran Murray. On the other end, the Terps'
offense, buoyed by senior midfielder Mike Chanenchuk, will look to
put rubber on Cavaliers freshman goalie Matt Barrett. It's the
Terps last regular-season crack at Virginia at ACC foes before
Maryland bolts for the Big Ten this summer.

WD1: Louisville (6-3) at No. 16 Georgetown (3-5)

Saturday, 2 p.m.

After losing to undefeated Johns Hopkins last weekend and to
Loyola on Wednesday, Georgetown will bring intensity Saturday to
turn its season around against Big East conference challenger
Louisville. The Cardinals are currently tied with Cincinnati for
first place in the Big East. Nikki Boltja leads Louisville with 37
goals (which rank third nationally) and 47 points. Boltja has been
named Big East Offensive Player of the Week three times this
season. Sophomore Kaylin Morissette has a whopping 71 draw
controls, an average of 7.88 per game, third-highest in Division I.
The Cardinals will face a Hoyas offense that continually executes
man-overload plays that isolate the 1-on-1, which in turn create
numerous down-to-the-wire scenarios. Georgetown has gone into
overtime three times this season and has allowed late comebacks for
many of its opponents, including Loyola. Georgetown's Kelyn
Freedman and Caroline Tarzian are on the Tewaaaton Watch List, with
14 goals apiece, as is Morissette for Louisville.

MD3: No. 9 Ithaca (6-1) at No. 3 Cabrini (7-0)

Saturday, 1 p.m.

What is it going to take to slow down Corey Elmer and the
Cabrini machine? There have been opponents who have done it for a
quarter or two - Whittier was tied with the Cavaliers at seven
apiece late in the third quarter last weekend - but none have
managed to do it for 60 minutes. Does Ithaca offer anything that
might change that storyline? They do have one of the top netminders
in the biz in sophomore Scott Sidnam and the Bombers have chewed up
all but one opposing offense (that one being RIT). More
importantly, Ithaca has an offense that is not only talented, but
savvy enough to make the Cabrini defense work while simultaneously
resisting the temptation to get in a track meet with the Cavs.

It's not hyperbole to say that Cabrini's offense is in the same
neighborhood as RIT, so the Cavaliers enter the game as signficiant
home favorites. But if this game is still tight as the fourth
quarter progresses, advantage Bomb squad.

WD3: No. 3 Middlebury (7-0) at No. 7 Amherst (6-0)

Saturday, 12 p.m.

There will be a combined 637 wins on the sideline in this
showdown between the two teams currently seated at the top of the
NESCAC. Middlebury's Missy Foote won her 400th game earlier this
week with a 19-4 victory over RIT in Florida. The Panthers then
delivered her 401st with a dominating, 14-5 victory at No. 4
Franklin & Marshall on Thursday night. Hannah Deoul netted five
goals in the win over the Diplomats. Few can come close to Foote's
resume, but Amherst's Christine Paradis, with 236 wins and a
national title in 2003, matches up. Middlebury won 13-4 last year,
but Amherst has already defeated three ranked NESCAC teams: Bates,
Bowdoin and Hamilton.